Some more random musings.

 Some more random ramblings about TT:120 layouts…

So, we’ve established we’re excited about TT:120 and want to build a layout to explore/exploit the small size. 

BUT we live in another country and Hornby are only selling TT online. So everything has to be bought from them and shipped across the Atlantic. I’ll tell you, after the Christmas goings on when the US postal service managed to break a Pyrex saucepan being shipped to us. I have serious misgivings about the safety of items being shipped to me, unless extremely well packed. I certainly will not consider ordering lengths of flexible track from anywhere if they have to get here by the US postal service.

That ties my hands a little. Unless I can get some PECO track from a trader at the York Model Railway exhibition at Easter, and get it back in my suitcase. But then I remember the mess I made of my Kendal Mint Cake coming back from the UK last year… 

Things don’t look too good.  It’s a serious concern. Since Covid the service from the US Mail has been worse than risible at times. My Hornby TT:120 club membership pack took 7 weeks to get here. Two years ago that would have only taken a week. Packages very often arrive ripped and torn.

So I started to think about using set track. Smaller items would be less likely to be damaged due to careless handling. This then evolved into a challenge. What could you do with a set track expansion pack? Track items all packed together, that may offer better protection in transit.  Expansion packs are supposed to be used as a methodical way to expand your beginner train set. But what if a pack (or two) could be used to make a small shunting layout. Inglenook or tuning fork style? 

The cogs on my brain started turning, and as I had recently been reading James Hilton’s book on Small Layout Design, Whitehall Halt sprang to mind. 

A classic Whitehall Halt scene. Photo credit lost, no copyright infringement intended

This is Whitehall Halt on the Hemyock branch. One of those delightful GWR branch lines that many of us fell in love with in our formative years. A short platform with one short siding, in a small site.

Aerial view of the location of Whitehall Halt, platform in red

How small a site? Look at this Google Earth view. We are very lucky in that the station site is still clearly visible from the air, and it’s possible to make it out without too much difficulty. The station site is little more than 160 feet long. 160 feet at 2.54mm:ft for TT:120, gives you 406mm or 16” Now, that is small. 

Next I looked at the Hornby Track Packs, to see if there was anything that would give me enough track to build this. 

Track Pack 1 contains a left hand point, a single curve track, and five straight straight sections. The straights (and the point) are 160mm (6.5”) long. That’s over thirty inches of straight track. More than enough to build this I think. How you would build the off stage train storage is up to you, traverser, cassettes, or ladder of sidings. The point is that this station could be modelled to scale with just one track pack. 

If the GWR doesn’t interest you then there are countless small stations all over the UK that could be modeled using Track Packs. Some, like Whitehall, could be recreated in their entirety, others might need some compression. The thing is, they are out there, waiting to be found. Some like Whitehall are well known and easy to research. Others less so. Maybe you live on Railway Lane, or Beeching Close. Signs that there used to be an old station near you. Take a look. Researching old stations is great fun, and an overlooked part of the hobby. 

As for me, the GWR doesn’t particularly excite me. So perhaps I’ll look up some more Track Pack stations.